Letter: Bin Laden, not Saddam, should be top priority

Monday, March 3, 2003 | 8:53 a.m.

Saddam Hussein has threatened the region around him before and he's threatened American troops before. I'm more concerned with the man that not only threatened, but also orchestrated the murder and injury of thousands of innocent people on American soil. He will continue to kill innocent people around the world, as long as he is alive. Why hasn't Osama bin Laden been produced?

All the anger and tough talk directed at bin Laden subsided in less than a year and a half after 9-11. Somebody has to explain to me why almost all of America's military resources have been redirected toward a supposed threat when someone much more treacherous still walks the earth. I can't help but think that if all of our technology and "intelligence" were put to use, the larger threat could be apprehended -- alive.

Who has a higher American body count, Saddam or Osama? In addition to previous accomplishments, it's suspected that he possesses biological agents and could buy weapons of mass destruction (i.e. dirty bombs). He has all of the resources to repeat 9-11 on an even more catastrophic scale. Since 1993 bin Laden has killed more than 3,200 Americans and injured thousands more than that, yet he's still alive to make terrorist motivational videos. Osama bin Laden was the priority when the "War on Terror" started, and he should be the foremost priority now.

MICHAEL MAXWELL